Mexico No Longer Has Free Press Thanks To Drug War & Violence

An annual report by an independent advocacy group said that Mexico can no longer be considered to have a free press due to the violence related to the country’s ongoing drug trade.

According to Freedom House, Mexico was listed aside countries from North Africa and the Middle East as “not free” in large part because of the attacks on journalists, self-censorship and a climate of fear that persists in the nation. Reporting on the drug war is a tough situation for Mexican journalists, with some media outlets setting coverage guidelines and others declaring a blackout on drug war coverage.

While concentration of media control is a problem for Mexico’s press freedom, bribery and intimidation have drawn the country into the “not free”-zone alongside other Latin American nations such as Cuba, Venezuela and Honduras. Over 60 Mexican journalists have been killed in the last ten years, with ten deaths occurring in the last year alone.